Mexico mulls extradition of drug lord El Chapo to face charges in US

Azam Ahmed

Mexico City: After long resisting requests from Washington, the Mexican government appears to be moving towards extraditing Joaquin Guzman, the Mexican drug lord known as "El Chapo", to the United States to face drug and murder charges, Mexican officials say.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the government had not formally announced the decision, said the process could take months as it went through the judicial system.

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Mexico 'proud' of those who captured 'El Chapo'

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto praises the law enforcement officials who found and arrested the world's most wanted drug-lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

On Saturday, Mexico's Attorney General, Arely Gomez, said, for the first time, that the government took preliminary steps to proceed with Guzman's extradition as far back as July, shortly after his escape from prison.

Guzman's lawyers are expected to fight extradition to the US, where he faces at least seven indictments in federal courts on charges of drug trafficking and murder.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted to a helicopter by Mexican soldiers and marines in Mexico City. Photo: AP

A spokesman for President Enrique Pena Nieto declined to comment.

Given the controversial nature of extradition within Mexico, it remained possible that the government would stick to its long-standing refusal to send Guzman to the US until he first served time in Mexico.

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Guzman, who escaped from prison last year, was captured on Friday after a gun battle near the coast in his home state, Sinaloa. His capture was the culmination of a months-long manhunt in the mountains of the Golden Triangle, a rugged area in the country's north-west. After an intense gunfight in the coastal city of Los Mochis, Guzman was captured attempting to flee in a vehicle with one of his top lieutenants.

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Extraditing Guzman would be an about-face for the government, which had resisted efforts to extradite the drug lord as a matter of sovereignty.

Guzman, head of the Sinaloa Cartel, would serve his time in Mexico before he was sent to the US, officials said on Saturday.

Almost a year ago, Jesus Murillo Karam, the Mexican attorney general at the time, said: "I can accept extradition, but when I say so. El Chapo has to stay here and do his time, then I'll extradite him. Some 300, 400 years later. That's a lot of time."

Even as recently as three weeks before his escape from prison – through a 1.6-kilometre-long tunnel connected to his shower stall – the US had made a formal extradition request for Guzman.

Even if the government has come around to the idea of extradition, the legal process may take many months.

Guzman's lawyers have filed motions to block any extradition, dating from his last imprisonment in 2014, and the process must go through the judicial system.

However, for now, the Attorney General's Office appeared prepared to press on with the early steps leading to extradition.

Noting the efforts by Guzman's lawyers to file injunctions, a statement from the office on Saturday said none of them "prevents the execution of these orders, much less the start of the extradition procedure".

While the granting of an extradition request is typically funnelled through the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the president's office is central to any decision.

It was, after all, the government's decision to refuse extradition the last time.

As for the process of extradition, legal experts said Guzman had the right to appeal the decision.

The Attorney General's Office would then pursue the appeal in court.

In the past, the courts have generally sided with the government in extradition cases.